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Category Archives: Management

The difference between a pinch and a punch is as simple as preparedness. Being prepared for obstacles and setbacks means that your business will feel a pinch, rather than a punch.

Do you have a client(s) that makes up more than 25% of your revenue? If so, losing one would be a gut punch to your bottom line. If each client took up no more than 15%, that punch would be a pinch. Uncomfortable, but not impossible to overcome.

In the personal finances realm, this is called rainy day funds or emergency fund. In the business realm, it’s called being smart.

Action Steps:

Know your business and where you make your money.

You’ve heard the saying “hope for the best, plan for the worst.” I prefer to plan for the best, be ready for the worst.

Make a plan to avoid being – or move away from being – beholden to single or limited sources of revenue (clients). A golden goose is great, for a season, but being ready for the day the goose flies, is greater.

In most cases, moving slowly is a bad thing. Slow moving organizations are rarely proactive, and when they’re reactive, it’s typically too little too late. Additionally, they are usually unable to make adaptations or course corrections in a manner that allows for meaningful change or full implementation.

Maybe it’s the leadership that sets the example of moving slowly. Maybe it’s a long standing culture of moving slowly. Whatever the reason, it’s a choice.

“Nimbleness means your business is able to quickly and effectively make decisions that affect the bottom line. An employee needs to be hired (or fired); a piece of equipment needs to be ordered; a system or process needs to be changed.

Flexibility means you’re able to carry out those decisions, because making decisions and carrying them out are two different things.”

Organizations and businesses can move quickly if they want. But that’s the problem, many have made a choice to move slowly.

So, I didn’t come up with this diagram. I’ve borrowed the idea. Unfortunately, I don’t remember who originally came up with the concept. However, the idea is sound. And true.

Starting at the top, if the owner takes care of the employees, the employees will take care of the customers. In turn, the customers will take care of the company, and the company will take care of the owner.

Occasionally, what happens is that the owner will just take care of the customers or the company, effectively turning his back on the employees. Often, this happens because the owner doesn’t (or most likely won’t) trust his team. There is no quicker way to disenfranchise your employees than to turn your back on them.

If you don’t trust your team, and if you’re being honest, that means you really don’t trust yourself. Otherwise you would trust your ability to put a great team together. You would be able to delegate responsibilities knowing they’d be managed effectively. Your focus would stay on managing, mentoring, building, growing and, more importantly, leading your team.

Focus on building a company that follows this cycle and you’ll create a happier team, a happier company, and happier customers.

Out of all the advice I’ve ever given, or will ever give, this principle seems to be the most important. Why? Because I see the same mistake made over and over and over again.

Do not make important decisions regarding your business when you’re strapped for cash or when you’re emotional. You won’t be thinking clearly, therefore you’ll make poor decisions. Just like going shopping when you’re hungry.

My advice? Take a deep breath. Consult a third party, preferably one you trust. Or, at least wait until you’re no longer hungry.

When it comes to marketing expenses, you can’t expect to spend zero dollars on marketing your business and still expect to set sales records.

Restaurants are a perfect example of this at play in the real world. Understandably, it costs a ridiculous amount of money to start a restaurant. From renovation fees to obtaining licenses, opening a restaurant can be a huge investment. In fact, RestaurantOwner.com did a survey and found the average cost to start a restaurant was $451,966. It’s no surprise that once an owner is finished spending nearly half a million dollars they’re reluctant to invest anymore into the business.

But that’s just it. You don’t drop half a million into a venture without expecting an eventual return on that investment. Marketing is just a way to protect the investment.

There are people out there that just plain stink at being in charge. They have business schizophrenia, always running from one idea to the next without ever giving any one idea a chance to develop. They don’t respond to emails, and if they do, they only respond to part. When they delegate, they give way too much and then expect it done in an unrealistic timeline. They put out fires and never learn to anticipate problems before they happen. That’s not the issue though. Having a bad boss, or bad management team is going to happen. The issue is how do you identify if that person is you? What are the tell-tale signs that you’re bad at being in charge?

Here’s a short list to identify if you’re bad at being in charge:

1: It’s always someone else’s fault.
2: Your company is always putting out fires. There’s no preventative measures to anticipate or manage complications.
3: Heavy turnover.
4: Dwindling sales.
5: No one returns your calls.Being in charge should be synonymous with being critical of one’s self. If you aren’t very good at being critical of yourself, maybe you aren’t good at being in charge.